001call our meeting back to order. Mr. Greenway, will you please read us out of closed? Yes ma'am. I move that Roanoke County School Board come out of closed session for the following to discuss the investigation of a student matter pursuant to the scholastic record exemption at 2.2-3711A2 of the Code of Virginia and to certify that to the best of each member's knowledge only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements under this chapter and only such business matters as were identified in the motion by which the closed meeting was convened were heard discussed or considered in the meeting by the school board. Second. Madam Clerk. Dr. White. Yes ma'am. Mr. Linden. Yes ma'am. Mr. Greenway. Yes ma'am. Ms. Clemens. Yes ma'am. Item 2.03 action from closed. Yes madam chair I move that student number
002EX 2025-2026 number 18 be long-term suspended. I second. Madam Clerk. Dr. White. Yes ma'am. Mr. Linden. Yes ma'am. Mr. Greenway. Yes ma'am. Ms. Clemens. Yes ma'am. And madam chair I move that student number EX 2025-2026 number 19 be expelled from Roanoke County Public Schools. Second. Madam Clerk. Dr. White. Yes ma'am. Mr. Linden. Yes ma'am. Mr. Greenway. Yes ma'am. Ms. Clemens. Yes ma'am. Welcome everyone will you please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Item 4.01 announcement of changes in the agenda we do not have any. Item 4.02 approval of agenda do we have a motion to approve? I make a motion to approve the agenda
003as submitted. Second. Madam Clerk. Dr. White. Yes ma'am. Mr. Linden. Yes ma'am. Mr. Greenway. Yes ma'am. Ms. Clemens. Yes ma'am. Item 5.01 recognition of Alan Lamb Northside High School as the ICDC finalist award for DECA presented by Dr. Leanna Rippey and Ms. Kim McKee. Hello everybody. Before we begin I'd like to extend our sincere appreciation to the school board Dr. Nicely, Dr. Soltis and central office staff and community members who are joining us for your continued support of our students in our school. Tonight we are proud to recognize Alan Lamb, a newly graduated senior from Northside High School for his outstanding achievement at the DECA International Career Development Conference in Atlanta. Alan is a four year marketing and DECA student whose leadership and dedication have lasted has left a lasting impact on our school. Joining
004him as his teachers and DECA advisors Kim McKee and Cecily Lineberry whose guidance and support have helped foster a culture of achievement within Northside's marketing and DECA programs. Ms. McKee will share more about Alan's remarkable accomplishment and the significance of this historic achievement for Northside High School. Thank you so much for recognizing Alan for his outstanding achievement in DECA. Alan is a student whose dedication, leadership and perseverance truly define excellence. He's been a committed member of DECA for all four years in high school and has served on the DECA leadership team for the past two years. From his freshman year I taught Alan and he set a goal to improve his role play and test scores and he worked tirelessly to achieve that goal. He is a four time Virginia DECA state competitor, a three
005time international competitor and his hard work, his dedication, and his hard work ultimately culminated this April at DECA International Conference in Atlanta where he earned sixth place in the world in the human resource management event. This remarkable accomplishment is a first for Northside High School and is a testament to Alan's commitment to excellence. I've been teaching 31 years, eight years in Northern Virginia and then here in the county and I've never had a student that got up on stage at national. So this was a first for me first for Northside. Beyond his competitive success he has been a positive leader, a wonderful role model and definitely an ambassador for our program. We are incredibly proud of his growth, his character and his accomplishments. We hope he continues promoting DECA and representing Northside with the same
006pride as he begins his next chapter at UVA. Congratulations Allen, we're so proud of you. That's nice, perfect. I do, very much. Are you going to major in business? No. Congratulations. Medicine, okay. Item 5.02, presentation to Dr. Ken Nicely for 33 years of service to Roanoke County Public Schools. So as this is Dr. Nicely's last meeting with us, we wanted to formally thank him for his 33 years of service to Roanoke County Public Schools and for serving as superintendent since 2018. Dr. Nicely has served with integrity and passion which has earned him the respect of his staff, the students and their families. Being present and visible has been an important component of his role and has made our staff feel incredibly supported. He has been consistently present in our schools and at events, oftentimes attending
007events every night of the week and sometimes going across the county for several things in one night. That happens often and I always say that he has certainly earned his salary. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Dr. Nicely as have my fellow board members. We have appreciated his thoughtfulness, his experience and his knowledge in helping navigate the ever changing priorities and focus of Roanoke County Public Schools. Thank you for your dedication, your hard work and your many contributions which have shaped and positively influenced our school system. Would you guys like to speak as well? Sure. I'll go first and I'll keep my words brief. Not unlike the time that I've had to share working beside you. I know I've only been able to work with you for the past six months which is a drop
008in the bucket compared to 33 years of service here. But I will truly always value the time working beside you. And I truly appreciate the patience you exhibit with all your interactions both with staff, families and us up on the board. We can't possibly always be that easy to deal with. So I appreciate that. I also appreciate the vision and compassion you have for public education and the families that we serve. And while it's definitely going to be sad to see you leave, I know you're going to be leaving us in good hands both with Dr. Soltis but also with the gift and the legacy that you're leaving behind with the See Change framework, the opportunity ready way to frame and think about what it means to have deeper learning and critical thinking in our
009students. And we'll be able to use that framework for years to come. So I'm truly grateful for that. Thank you, Madam Chair. Dr. Nicely, for this board member, it's a pretty sad day. I'm not sure that it's a sad day for you but it is for me. The legacy that you leave behind for Rona County Public Schools is outstanding. And from the beginning, you've had just a vision of excellence for what you want this school district to be. Your dedication to the district for 33 years, truly commendable and has been exemplary every step of the way. So you've always done things. You've been honest. You've maintained an extremely high standard, a high level of integrity throughout the eight years. Throughout all 33 years, I'm sure. The eight years that I've seen you. So you've shown
010an excellent ability to collaborate, displayed strong communication skills. And I believe one of your greatest assets has been your willingness to listen to people before making a decision. Clearly, you have an impeccable reputation, not only throughout the region but throughout the state. We see that every year at the VSBA conference. You've been admired or you're admired by your employees throughout the school division. They've earned their respect. You didn't demand it, but you earned their respect through all your hard work and your belief in their abilities. And those are all signs of a great leader. So clearly over the past eight years, public schools have been in the spotlight for numerous reasons. And you've handled all those challenges so professionally that I really appreciate that. And the awards and accolades, the recognitions which you and the
011school division have received speaks volumes to your leadership. So it's been a fantastic steward of Roanoke County Public Schools. You're going to be greatly missed. Congratulations and thank you very much. Yeah, so you know I can't do the short version. He's going to drink some water. Shelly would like me to. But as we were reflecting a little earlier, you know, there's a lot that has been accomplished in your time here. And I'm going to break protocol and I'm going to call you Ken. Sorry, Teresa. But Dr. Nicely or Ken to me, who I think of more as a friend and someone that I can speak to and bounce ideas off of. We will miss your guidance and leadership. There's no question. I want to proudly say that I am the only sitting board member that
012voted for you to be our superintendent. And there was another board member here. But did I get you good day? So and that was for another reason. But obviously he's been very pleased. We've all been pleased. But I want to go back through a few highlights. And I don't know if I had to ask you because there's so many and I could go. We could dig down into the weeds of so many things you've affected. One of the couple of things you weren't actually the sitting superintendent for, but was in our time here together. And as you were as a director, such was the North Side situation with the principal and some of that. Those issues with that was a big deal. The school board member stepping down issue. That was a big deal. Then
013we go into facilities director stabilization. We had a few of those and you all these you were instrumental in working through. Cave Spring, the high school, which I'm glad you brought that to my attention. We did that out twice. How many school divisions do a project and bid it out twice to make it affordable and within the budget and within what we had available to spend. We had to make changes to that. We adapted it and we got it right. Let's see. Went through the change of superintendent after that, which we aptly got right and named Ken is our next superintendent. We had COVID. Maybe the biggest disagreement we had in some areas was that, you know, the COVID. You were one of the superintendents in this area that had our kids going to school.
014Was it third grade or second grade? Third grade, right? So we had kindergarten through third grade going to school when most divisions were shut down and closed. And it made it's I think we'll see that fruition. We're about to those kids now getting to those, you know, to the form of ages of graduating or in high school. And so, you know, that was a huge, huge deal that we went through. Then we got the call it a fight, but a huge discussion for the schools and RCCTC and the two elementary schools. We went through, I mean, huge discussions about that. And I had the school progression of renovations and the time frame and trying to get that to the finish line. You were instrumental in developing and we're talking about having to redevelop that now.
015I think it was 2019 when we made the list of school priorities for renovations. That was a big deal. Then we went through the SRO, you know, trying to get SROs in our schools. And you were right there with us on those issues. We got sued by a board of supervisor member, right? How many superintendents get that? So we went through that. And then the highlight of highlights are that we're sixth and seventh in reading. I'm sorry, let me get that right. Sixth in math, seventh in reading in the state of Virginia out of 131 school districts. And we're tenth out of 131 school districts overall, which I think speaks volumes to what this school division is doing. It's a huge difference to what this school division brings to run a county in general. And
016there's numerous, as Mr. Linden said, numerous awards and recognitions along the way. I mean, this year alone, you had two or three that were just huge recognitions. Dr. Soltis, these are big shoes to fill. He told me I could fill my own shoes. He does say that. But I don't think I don't know. You know, you were right there. It's such an inflection of time in the County Public Schools, I think, to get us the part righted in into the street. And you've brought us so far. And I hope we can call and lean on you to ask you for some help in certain areas as we move forward. I wish I were good at words. I wish I was very articulate. I would have some beautiful words to say, but I don't. All I
017can say is thank you. We appreciate you. Would you like to join us up front? I'm just going to have Tanny and you guys want to come up and take a picture with him. You go stand up. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for coming. Okay. Okay. I just want to say thank you to Tammy Shepherd. She is the Board of Supervisors chair for being here tonight with us to celebrate Ken and Richard Kate would as well. So thank you guys for coming. Okay. Let's see. Item six report by Student Advisory Council. We do not have a report this evening. Item seven point zero one hearing of citizens for agenda topics. We do not have any item eight consent agenda. Do we have a motion to approve the consent agenda? I make a motion to
018approve the consent agenda as submitted. Second. Madam Clerk. Dr. White. Yes ma'am. Mr. Lunden. Yes ma'am. Mr. Drangleway. Yes ma'am. Ms. Clements. Yes ma'am. Item nine point zero one RCCTC solar energy review presented by Mr. Todd Cagle. Madam Chair, Dr. Nicely, Dr. Soltis, members of the board. Solar energy has been part of the discussion related to RCCTC since the beginning of the project. Initially we did not have the funding to include a solar power system as part of the construction of the new building. However, RCCTC was designed to be solar ready from the beginning. Due to excellent fiscal management by branch, RCPS and Skanska, all of our major construction projects are under budget at this time. We are proposing to install an 800 kilowatt solar system on the roof at RCCTC. The system is projected
019to offset the electricity needs of the new facility by 100 percent. RCCTC will remain grid tied and so the solar energy system should not affect the reliability of the power supply to the school. The roof and structural warranties will remain in effect. The components of the solar power system have manufacturer's warranties ranging from 10 to 25 years and the production of the individual panels is warranted for 30 years. The cost of the system is one million five hundred twenty two thousand seven hundred and ninety two dollars. And the projected payback period is seven to eight years with the system having a lifespan over 30 years. The solar power system is projected to save RCPS more than five million dollars over the usable life of the array. That's five million dollars that can go back into
020instructional staff, facility maintenance, new facilities and other needs of the school system. RCPS published an RFP for this project and received nine responses. The RFP committee unanimously selected the proposal from 8M solar. 8M presented the details of the proposed system to the board at last week's work session. RCPS, Skanska and the school board attorney are currently finalizing contract details with 8M. And at this time, staff recommends that the school board authorize the reallocation of one point six million dollars, which is the contract cost plus a small contingency to support the RCCTC solar energy system project. That would consist of one point two million dollars from redirected construction savings returned by branch and four hundred thousand dollars from available RCCTC special projects funds. Further, staff recommends that the board authorize the superintendent or his designee to
021fully execute the contract and all other documents related to the project. Thank you. Do we have a motion to approve the RCCTC solar project? Let's make a motion to approve the comments. This was done in our work session. That's all available for you to come and listen to. But I think this one makes a lot more sense. I'll just throw that comment out there from the last time we talked about that we wouldn't have to pay anything. But we get a hittens by over 25 years that we had to sign into that deal. But this one by buying it after eight years, everything's ours. And so it's a much shorter time frame. And who knows, we might be able to sell some energy back. But this is a much better deal. Thank you for working
022hard to get this done. Yes, sir. Just like to say I'm excited for not only energy savings that are the cost savings that we're going to experience, but also the learning opportunities that I think our students are going to be able to have from this project and everything that comes along with it. So well done. I echo that. Thank you for all the hard work. Yes, sir. Yeah, I'm glad we're going to do this. And like Mr. Linden said, the energy costs are important. But I also think the fact that it's going to be on the RCCTC building and the education opportunities are really important. So excited about that as well. Yes, ma'am. All right. So any other discussion? All right, Madam Clerk. Dr. White. Yes, ma'am. Mr. Linden. Yes, ma'am. Mr. Greenway. Yes, ma'am.
023Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Item 10.01 opportunity ready update. Twenty six presented by Mr. Mike Riley and Miss Kim Bradshaw. Good evening, Madam Chair, board members, Dr. Nicely, Dr. Soldis. Mr. Riley. Now I'd like to share with you an update on our opportunity ready work from this year. He's got me ready. OK, sorry. So our opportunity ready work is centered around the profile of a graduate and we want to make sure that all of our graduates have the critical thinking skills, that they are a sound citizen, that they're great collaborators and communicators, that they're centered and individuals and that they're creative in their work. And so we've worked on building out our instructional program to support all of these concepts. So this is the heart of the C change framework, which was mentioned earlier. And we
024want to make sure that we share with you that our opportunity ready work is not created in a vacuum. It truly is. It takes a whole village to put our C change framework and make sure our students truly are opportunity ready. We want to make sure we have balance. We say that and we do mean that test scores are important and our students have been very successful. But we also want to make sure that we're providing them with all of the opportunities to be a well rounded citizen. Our school climate is very important to us in our school culture. We want students to be proud and be happy when they're going to school and feel safe. Same thing with the classrooms. In that same sleeve, we want to make sure that we're providing our staff
025with the opportunities to have professional growth so we can continue to support our students in the opportunity ready work. We want to make sure our support tools, support tools and services are also in place. I said earlier, it takes a village and it truly does take a village. It begins in the morning with the bus drivers and honestly before that with our parents and our community members. So that's where it starts and every person who touches a child's school day, we find to be very important in making sure our students truly are ready. And then finally, our learning culture. It is part of our culture for all of our students to graduate from Monac County Public Schools as opportunity ready. This past school year, we had full implementation at the elementary school level and that
026is for grades three through five. We held our student led conferences on February 9th, which was our parent teacher conference day students in grades three through five curated evidence of communication, collaboration and critical thinking. They put together their portfolios and then they presented those in their student led conferences. So going forward, there's a couple of things at the elementary level that we would like to continue to build and expand on. And one of those is digitizing the artifacts and we've had some schools go ahead and dip a toe into making digital artifacts and the kids really seem to take well to it and the parents enjoy it and also become something that we can very easily email to the parents and they can save, which has been very beneficial. And then we've also had some
027schools start expanding this concept to the lower grade levels. And so we'd like to see that continue to evolve and develop. So that way our kindergarten through second grade students, though they might not be doing the portfolio like third grade, they might be doing pieces to ready that work. So that way, when kids get to third grade, they'll be ready to curate that evidence and understand what that means. Switch over to secondary now. So our middle schoolers on April 22nd and again, we had to move that date back and forth. You guys remember we had the special election. We had to move some things around, but we still had a great day on that early dismissal day where we invited parents to come in. Our middle schoolers had been curating and practicing all year getting
028ready for that date. And we're happy to report again, some of the schools did it on other days as well. But we ended up with almost 60 percent of our middle schoolers were able to present either to a parent or what we did if a student didn't have a parent that could come during that day is many of the schools had staff members that students could present to so that they could articulate and show the evidence to an adult and give them an opportunity to not only practice, but really just share with pride what they've done through their middle school experiences. So we're super excited about that. Next steps is we want to get to 100 percent of middle schoolers presenting. We know we can't always get parents in, but we want to make sure
029that we've got the systems in place so that when a student's curated that evidence and they're ready to present, they have an opportunity to present to someone. We do want to make sure that we're creating systems and supports in place to get as many parents in as we can to those offering some after school opportunities, some during the day opportunities. And we've got lots of ideas. And the neat thing is different middle school middle schools have done it slightly differently. We're planning to pull everybody together, look at what's worked well, what maybe hasn't and kind of combine those to get as many parents in as we possibly can this next school year. So we're excited about that in those opportunities. The other thing we're looking to do is the students get ready to leave middle
030school and go to high school is pilot a capstone experience, something that's a little bit different than just a presentation to their parents that really kind of culminates that middle school experience, puts a stamp on it and lets them and their parents know that they're ready to move to high school that next year. So we've got some ideas of schools we want to work with to start to pilot that idea. And then, of course, branch that out to all our middle schools. So we're super excited about that. And, of course, we've been talking a lot about our senior defenses this past year. This was a big year for us at the high school level. The school board went ahead a year ago and allowed us to have two virtual days in the calendar. What that
031allowed us to do is have all of our staff prepare to sit on those panels so that we could guarantee that every senior had an opportunity to defend a portfolio in those two days. And I know several of you were able to come and see those defenses. We're happy to report that we had over 750 seniors that defended a portfolio over those two days and beyond. It was interesting in some of the schools. Some kids chose not to do it didn't show up that day once they heard the experience of their peers and how positive that experience had been for them. We had several who came back and said they wanted to try and do it as well. We also had several that failed and that's it sounds counterintuitive, but it's actually a good thing
032because it means that there is meaning behind it. There are standards there. And what we do is even if a student doesn't pass, we give them that feedback and allow them to resubmit. So with resubmissions of those 750 students, over 97 percent ended up graduating with an opportunity ready seal and court at graduation. So we're super excited about that is incredibly successful. We had stakeholders from all across the state. Of course, we had folks from the video we in at North Side that evening and they were able to see that as well. So we're super excited not about only about the success that we had this year, but really what we're looking to do moving forward. Some of our next steps is we really want to get to that 80 percent goal. That would be
033900 seniors next year. We'd love to surpass that. But that's what we're going to shoot for. And we've got some ideas to make sure we get those numbers this year. We do want to start to build out what we call performance task across grade levels and content areas. We want to make sure as we build this out and this becomes a promise to our families that our students are graduating opportunity ready, that it's not just chance. It's not just they had some of those neat classes that we heard about during those defenses and those presentations. We want to make sure that those opportunities are built into our classes starting in ninth grade where kids have opportunities to not only demonstrate those skills, but learn those skills, get feedback from staff and continue to improve. So
034we know when they get seniors their senior year, they've had multiple opportunities in all those skills to practice them, to learn them, to receive feedback and to continue improve. So we know when they graduate and they prepare to defend their senior year, we know they've had those experiences. So that's going to be our goal this year. So start to build those out and curate those. We're also going to start to build out skill process progressions within our performance outcomes. As you guys know, we've been working on communication, collaboration and critical thinking. Most of what we've looked at are what are called single point rubrics, kind of I can statements. I can do this or I can't. We're going to start to build out what that looks like across a continuum. What does it mean to
035kind of be developing as a communicator versus being proficient or exemplary as a communicator? We're going to start to build that out so our staff and students know what they look like and know how to progress through those skills. We want to create opportunities for outside stakeholders to interact with our students. One, in the classroom, we want to find ways to bring that knowledge in to give them opportunities to work with our students in the classroom. But we also want to start to create opportunities for students outside the classroom to go and work on these skills, to work with business owners, community leaders in the field. So start to work on these skills. And we've got some exciting pilots that we're going to be starting this next year to give our students those opportunities. And
036then, of course, we've got some really cool things for our seniors, but we need to start to build out what's happening for our ninth, tenth and eleventh graders so that they have opportunities to present their work, to share that with leaders, to share that with parents, to share that with stakeholders. So we're super excited about the direction we're going with this. And of course, our ultimate goal, our vision is Rono County is making sure we prepare every student in every school and every classroom to be opportunity ready. We're super excited. And I know you want to thank Dr. Nicely for his vision. Of course, you guys know it's been about 13 years ago. We ended up presenting the C-Change framework. That's been our guiding document to this time. And I know Dr. Nicely cast the
037vision when I came into this role to create this process, to make sure that our profile of a graduate wasn't just aspirational, wasn't just a poster on the wall. And we hoped students could do it. We wanted to create something in Rono County that we could make sure was a promise to our families that when you leave Rono County Public Schools, not only will you have the content knowledge, but you're also going to have the skills that you need to be successful in honestly in every school. And I'm super excited about where we're at. And I want to thank the school board for your support in this. Thank Dr. Nicely and of course, Dr. Soltis as we continue this vision. Any questions about this past year or anything that we've talked about moving forward? I
038just want to say that I'm excited to see this pilot for the eighth graders. This is something that we've talked about a lot. Some of us had the opportunity to visit a school in Kansas City and we saw some eighth graders they are presenting. And I think it's a nice step between what they're doing on the elementary level and then what we're expecting of them in the high school. I really think we need something there in the middle. So I'm glad that we're going to pilot that. I think it's going to really bring it all together for these students. So I'm excited to see that. And the stakeholders piece too. I would say that too. That's been a huge component from the beginning is buy-in. Meaning buy-in from the students who have to do this.
039Buy-in from the staff. Buy-in from their parents. Buy-in from people around us too. Businesses around us. Schools around us. It's so important that they understand why this is important and what this means so that they understand what these kids have accomplished and why that means something. We really want everyone around us to understand that. So I think that's a huge part of it and I'm glad that that's part of the plan. We've got some really exciting things in store next year. I don't have any questions but I just want to thank you for your efforts and the implementation of this program. And when Dr. Nicely and Dr. Soltis presented on this over at the VSBA conference it was well received and a lot of school districts were like wow. And now it's getting national attention.
040So I mean it's a situation where this this hard work has really paid off and having seen seniors go through this and know that they're ready for the next step and they'll be confident when they go to an interview for a job or whatever it may be. College interview, job interview. It's just it's a great program. It really is. So thank you. And to add to that I think this is what makes us a little bit different honestly. This whole C chain framework and Dr. Nicely I guess maybe I'm wrong. You said 13 years ago. I actually thought you because when I first came on the board you were the one that kind of developed this and Mr. Riley's position and cultivated it and it's where it just that was the infancy if you ask
041me. But maybe it was here a couple years before that or whatever. But well that's that's. But did you bring it because I'm always I don't know why but I equate this to you as your baby that you brought. He was he was in my role at that point in time and correct me if I'm wrong. I think he was correct me if I'm wrong Dr Nicely but you were tasked with rewriting the strategic plan and instead of four C's to five C's right. And so I just know that you've kind of this has kind of been your baby and you know you've kind of followed it through and the size and made it what it is today and then. Well I was getting my say and then they take it and cultivate it and
042and and I believe. And I believe anybody involved in it before you to that have been you were so there were some involvements before you know going past breakfast this morning is probably a long ways back for me. But I think it's just a testament to run up county the leadership that y'all bring and the leadership that has started with Dr Nicely and it really does I think it sets us apart and the legal the defenses the all of that culmination of work over the last several years. It just it makes us a game changer. I said this in I don't know if it was in closed or in earlier. You know we are a school division you know I don't want to get into vouchers and all that stuff but we are a school
043division that can attract the best and the brightest we have the best in the brights that's not because these kids go in there and they are just naturally the best and the brightest. It's because of people like you all and the staff out here. This is what makes run up county what it is and we are lucky to have each and every one of you. So thank you. Thank you. I think everything's are even so eloquently. I will also state that I appreciate how when I came on like we were talking about this change framework a little bit more and really even looking at as a lens for all the other work we do as a board like we can we can do this. We can take that same framework and apply it to when
044we are looking at reviewing policies or creating new policies. How does this fit in that framework? How does this advance what the students are working on? And I love that about it too. Thank you all for all the hard work and continuing to advance this in the future. Well thank you and again thank the board because again without your support without your backing of this none of this would be possible. I think one of the things we've and again we need to get going we don't want to be here too long but super proud of Mr. Greenway mentioned the fact that you know we are leaders in the state in SOL testing. That comes back to the very first bullet in the C change framework it's balance. Like we need to make sure our kids
045have those deeper learning skills but they have to know the content too. They need to know math. They need to be able to read. They need to know science and history. So those are equally important and I'm extremely proud that we've been able to do both and do both with excellence. Fabulous. I'm glad I graduated over 40 years ago. I'm sure I'd make it through. So thank you all. Thank you guys. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Why are you laughing Dr. Nice? Because he knows it. He's been an opportunity ready graduate. He believes in you. I'm glad somebody does. Item 11.01 hearing of citizens for non agenda topics. We do not have any item 12.01 report by Roanoke County Schools Superintendent Dr. Ken Nicely. This is my last one. I have to make it
046a good one. I was going to say. I appreciate Mr. Riley. Ms. Bradshaw's presentation and as you all pointed out I mean there's a whole team of people from from finance to CTE to special education to counseling to assessments and administration and HR that makes all of that work because it's really all the work going together to you know to for the benefit of our students that makes us work. So just fair warning this report does begin way back in the 1900s. So it might be here. Well just a few words. Well you're taking. You're taking. Put the red put the light on there. But I did I never imagined 1993 it's been more than 13 years ago but 1993 my wife and I relocated back here to Roanoke and of course was hired as
047a high school Spanish teacher. Never imagined I'd be here in the school system for 33 years. Ten years a classroom teacher. Teaching and learning has always been my central passion and pride throughout my career even as my leadership in this area of all through various roles. Middle school principal my focus was on working with adults to create a culture in which we focused on the academic social emotional and developmental needs of students and dare to hold ourselves to high standards to develop and implement a shared vision for how educational environments and experiences could be and should be done. We believe in operating with personal and professional integrity and all decisions communicating in a positive optimistic manner that inspired others to want to do their best. Even though I moved from middle school principal to division
048wide director of secondary instruction. I was grateful for the opportunity to accept greater responsibility leading the instructional and technology programs for our five middle schools five high schools tech and our technical center and operating with the within the administrative and school board leadership culture that existed at the time the type of leadership skills that relied on building trust and relationships influencing culture and decision making with data and a focus on the why and processes to promote fidelity and consistency became invaluable invaluable. It was during the years that we during these years that we laid the groundwork for the development of the comprehensive vision for the future of learning culture climate meeting the needs of students and valuing the work of employees in Brown County schools. And of course that took the shape of our sea
049change framework which you've heard quite a bit about this evening. I was of course reluctant and was a little bit resistant to a move over from instruction over to the role of administration but also recognize that this new experience that we've had in the last few years has been a very important one. But also recognize that this new experience working with policy development discipline attendance counseling records crisis management within greater context of all of our schools including elementary was certainly further my journey in becoming an opportunity ready myself in unanticipated ways. And of course August 2018 becoming superintendent for our county public schools Mr. Greenway alluded a little bit to this earlier the early challenges were significant. There was a new school year for which to prepare immediately. We were in the middle of a
050failed construction bidding process for the new case bring high school renovation. But people pulled together we shoveled lots of gravel to get that trailer park going over there to get all the students out there. We called a fancy names back then like learning cottages but they're they're they're traders which is all good. You actually shoveled gravel. We all pitched in to get it done. So yeah there was a lot to get done to get those things set up. But I just want to thank our school board members who are very supportive we work together and over time I think developed a trust and confidence in our mindset work ethic communication style professionalism experience and knowledge. Eight years later eight years later we can look back on the triumphs and challenges we can agree that we've
051not been perfect and there's still a lot of work to be done. But we take pride in what's been accomplished. I'm grateful to the school board for its steady confidence in me and our team over the past eight years. There have been disagreements and debate over ideas budgets decisions policies but I've had the honor of serving with board members who genuinely care about students and staff and who do their best to make sound decisions based on data and what is best for the school division. Together along with our the best senior leaders principals teachers staff in the region and among the best teachers and staff in the state we produce excellent outcomes for the students families and citizens of counties. Mr. Greenwood mentioned some of those things your things we've done together. We were for
052stored our school school nurses back to being full time status back that was back in 2020 we restored insurance benefits to our bus drivers. We established the first in Virginia paid time offer PTO program and we of course joked with Mr. Ratchall at the time he's either going to be the hero or the villain in this. It turns out to be the hero. We've had great outcomes we've decreased staff absenteeism through that program and it's worked out really well. We as a board and as a team we've remained up maintained a priority in terms of attracting and retaining high quality teachers employees by prioritizing our staff salaries and benefits. We modernize our websites our our branding with new logos. Of course Mr. Greenwood mentioned our CIP that we developed leading to the completions completed renovations
053at K. Spring High School William Byrd High School and nearly completed renovations at Cundiff and and Glencoe Elementary Schools and Mr. Greenway you mentioned our change over time and leadership in the facilities and operations area area. I just want to give a shout out to Mr. Cagle's back there because he's just been phenomenal in terms of leading that charge. The new state of the art run up county career technology center center which is scheduled to open next school year represents an incredible number of students and staff. The new state of the art run up county career technology center center which is scheduled to open next school year represents an incredible story of a community coming together to accomplish something that will make a lasting impact on the region for years to come and built upon
054the success of a CTE program that's widely recognized as among the best in the state. And our campaign for excellence has already been wildly successful generating pledges of over two point four million dollars in just the first year. School climate school safety student wellness remain priorities. Mr. Greenway mentioned our rest of the road program or thank our run up county police our sheriff's office for their partnership and making that happen. We've seen a decrease in student chronic absenteeism by six percentage points over the past four years. Our life counselor program under Dr. Hughes which are licensed mental health clinicians. We added that to support student support our emphasis this year on the dangers of social media and smart media. That campaign has been important. Dr. McLean leading our multi-tiered support system under the PBIS which
055leads to clear and consistent expectations and consequences for student behavior has been important. Expanded the use of cameras and buses that the Raptor alert system which increases our school safety. All the training and drills that we go into that go into that. You know when Dr. Seagal led that up and then and under Ms. Newcomb now in terms of reunification drills all these things make us prepared to do the right thing for students. The vape detector program the see something see something campaign the speak up reporting system reach out. Let's talk under Dr. Hughes gaggle lights being speed systems that Mr. Terry overseas are a step program the alternative secondary transition education program we launched in 2019. That's of course a program structured to design to help students with a personalized environment to get them
056to success and graduating. We added support to our high schools for the deans adding a new set of principles also at the elementary level reading and math coaches all of these things together that you guys have supported through budgetary decisions really lead to all those outcomes that you've you pointed out. I was in with the course you know instructional leadership is the area in which I take most pride and for which there's abundant evidence and data to support the conclusion that Brown County Schools has been a state national leader in our instructional programs over the last eight years. And you mentioned some of those in terms of our rankings our on time graduation rates you know still hover around 94 95 percent. You mentioned our rankings our post pandemic recovery rates for students especially in
057our subgroups are African-American students Hispanic students disadvantage are outpacing the state in terms of the recovery rates. And in this year by the way this is not concluded yet but for 2026 our testing results are coming in strong and we have every reason to believe that all of our schools are probably likely doesn't need as either to string with distinguished or on track this year. So jury still out on that one but we're very hopeful in that regard. You've heard a report or outcomes on the opportunity ready graduate program from from third grade on up to high school very proud of that and all of our high schools and middle schools and elementary is pulling together to make that happen. And then of course the innovative work that's led to run up county being included
058as one of 26 schools nationwide in the Carnegie Foundation future of high school network and will be featured prominently by the way in some promotional materials being released next week by the Carnegie Foundation. And then finally our academic success has been recently recognized by the education scorecard which is the national measure that was led by a team of researchers from Harvard Stanford and Dartmouth recognizing our unusual success in reading. It sounds weird to be proud of being unusual but it's unusual because it really stands out in terms of the progress that we've made. These accomplishments and successes are not about me they belong to all of us. I'm so proud of our students teachers and staff. I'm grateful to be surrounded by the best professional educators in our key district leadership positions the best principals
059the best teachers and staff the best assistant in this York who also doubles as your school board clerk and of course my beautiful wife and family. I want to thank you for the opportunity to serve as superintendent for our county public schools for these past eight years. It's been my honor and joy. I'm very proud of what we've accomplished together and I'm confident that the school board and the administration under Dr. Soltis will continue to move forward building on the successes of the past while charting the new course for the future leading to even greater successes. Thank you. 13.01 reports an increase of board members. Dr. White will you start us off. So I have to follow that. You do. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Madam Chair and congratulations again to the student Alan
060Lamprey success at the international career development conferences. I know he and his family took off a while ago but that is truly a phenomenal accomplishment and I think I overheard him saying back that he's planning on going into medicine and I hope that he continues to include some of these not strictly medicine oriented things as he goes into college because that's going to make him stand out. That's going to make him stand out as just a superb applicant at medical schools when he gets there. And of course it's always a great source of pride for our community to see this hard work and leadership and our students being recognized with these sorts of awards. And it's a source of pride for a school system and the school board to be sharing in this. Also with
061the opportunity already the capstone projects. I mean, the quick math on those numbers you know that's like 69% that's more than two thirds of our seniors graduating with this distinction which is phenomenal and we're going to hit that 80% mark it sounds like next year and and hopefully at some point we're getting close to that 100% but I will say it no systems ever perfect So if we hit 100% I'll scratch my head and say well how can we push this further so that we're not getting 100% make it you know more challenging and all that. And that you know this is no small feat and speaks again to all the hard work and more than a decade of growing this program and vision from from Dr Nicely upwards. And thank you again to everybody
062involved in that. I do also want to circle back around and thank my fellow board members as well as Todd Cagle's and his team and the team and eight and solar for having the willingness and the vision to reassess the role that solar can have in Roanoke County public schools on the simple straightforward level it's really about fiscal responsibility making sure that we're making investments that pay themselves off for our schools and reduce our year over year expenses so that we can spend that time focused on how to support our staff support salaries benefits all those things that we're always talking about. But then on the other side which we didn't talk a whole lot about tonight is the opportunity and opening of doors for our students and new educational opportunities that come with having
063solar embedded in their school system. Yes, I think the original discussion you know 20 30 years from now technology is going to be different right absolutely. But I think the best way to ensure that technology is going to continue to advance is to expose our students now to the technology of today, let them get their hands on it figure out how it works because that engagement with the technologies going to be what sparks the flame of innovation and imagination and them to be the leaders of tomorrow. It creates the next best technology and move that forward so I think it's fantastic that we're doing this right now. I'm very proud that that we've all come together and taken the step today to make this reality. And then last and certainly not least, I will say
064that June is widely observed as Pride Month, which I think is an opportunity for all of us to celebrate LGBTQ plus diversity, whether you're part of the community or not. It's really about being welcoming and inclusive to all of our communities and festivals and parades across the globe, including places that are well known nationally or internationally, Spain, UK, Australia, Germany, Taiwan, Brazil, they all celebrate massive numbers. This diversity and the visibility that comes with that, and it's been decades of creating welcoming spaces for all. Well, I do speak only as an individual right now and not as on behalf of the board as whole. I would like to say to all of our students, all of our teachers staff and families that may be a part of that LGBT QA plus community. I see you.
065I welcome you. I appreciate you. And know that you are welcome and Renault County Public Schools and I hope that as we move forward, we can continue to improve and implement policy and practices to advance some safer and more inclusive school for everybody in the future. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. London. Nothing this evening, Madam Chair. Okay. Mr. Greenway. Nothing. I guess that means you have something. Well, I just you knew that I knew that. So culmination of the year where everybody graduated the first time we got together for that. After that. And so it's a that was wonderful. Everybody I'm assuming William Berg won the Handshake Award. They did not. And it was rigged. Usually. Yeah, my grandson's right. He says math. What's it marks math. That's that's rigged. So anyway, I want to
066say, Dr. Nice again, all the accolades you deserve, but you know who deserves the biggest exactly. So you have to you you have to put up with all the time he's gone and not here. And then he hopefully she's great. Hopefully she she helps you. She got the library issue on it. She that's inside joke. But she she's great, too. But thank you for allowing us to have him for the last 33 years. But more importantly, the last eight or nine or whatever it has been that he's been with us in the last 30 years. And he's been with us in the as a superintendent. He's an amazing person. If you ever get a chance, you need to hear him saying to and Teresa saying to actually the whole family. Wow. It's a talented family.
067So I want to issue a challenge to Dr. Soltis. Yeah. So coming into this role, we're six and seven, six and seven, six, seven. Has anybody done that? Yeah. We're not done at six. So and I know everybody wants to go home and not listen to that. But I want to issue a challenge that we get in the top five. And that's tough. That's tough. That's that's a challenge to the to the staff. You know, I know it's not just you, but I want to put that out there and we need there needs to be some celebration. I know in government we can't really do some of that. We got to maybe it's on us as the board that we come up with something to celebrate. We're going to I want to send the top
068five. That would be amazing. Oh, and number one, yes. But we got to kind of get there. So thank you all for all of that. I do I do have one little thing I want to read. I hope everybody saw this. This is not my words. These are from the attorney, our attorney, Stacey Haney. We are pleased to confirm that the federal lawsuit filed against the sheriff, a Johnny, Mr. Tim Greenway, Mr. Brett Hudson, Dr. Nicely by Martha Hooker has been formally dismissed with prejudice by the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Virginia. This dismissal was initiated by Ms. Hooker, who chose to withdraw and forever relinquish her claims against us rather than to continue pursuing them. This outcome is not surprising. From the time Ms. Hooker initiated her lawsuit against us in
069November of twenty three, we have consistently maintained that her claims were completely without merit. As such, we have rigorously defended our actions regarding Ms. Hooker's employment with Roanoke County Public Schools over the past two years and two and a half years. We continue to stand on the position that none of the individuals named in Ms. Hooker's lawsuit violated her constitutional rights or discriminated against her in any manner. We remain confident that had this matter proceeded to trial, each of the individuals named in Ms. Hooker's lawsuit would have prevailed as a matter of law. Nonetheless, we consented to the dismissal in order to quickly obtain the same result we expected at trial, a clear final resolution in our favor. Now that the matter has permanently concluded, all parties may move forward without any further distraction or
070uncertainty. We continue to maintain our commitment to upholding the high standards of conduct in service to Roanoke County Public Schools. We have no further comment on this matter other than thank you. Thank you. I just want to say thank you again to you, Ken, for your leadership. It's been an absolute pleasure to work with you as board chair. I've had the opportunity to work very closely with you and I've appreciated your guidance and your thoughtfulness and your honesty. Your love for the schools and your staff is evident. And that's what's made you an excellent and trusted leader. So we are grateful for your dedication to Roanoke County Public Schools and we wish you the best in your future adventures. So thank you. Is there anything else? All right. Meeting adjourned.